The NFL’s Super Bowl Half Time show is stirring controversy months before it airs. According to the Wall Street Journal, the league narrowed down candidates for its 2015 show in Phoenix to 3 acts and reached out to all of them to ask if they’d be willing to financially contribute to the league for the privilege of being the headliners. Apparently the response from the current nominees—Katy Perry, Coldplay, and Rihanna—was not extremely positive.

NFL spokeswoman Joanna Hunter commented that all performer contracts would be confidential and that the league’s only goal was to “to put on the best possible show.” Half-time musical acts have never been paid for their performances, but the league has frequently covered travel and performance costs. The show has also provided “reimbursement” in the form of its built-in advertising appeal; both Beyonce (starring in 2013) and Bruno Mars (starring in 2014) announced new tours the Monday after their performance.

The Journal’s article suggests that ticket sales and publicity may not be as strong motivators for the final candidates, as Perry, Rihanna, and Coldplay already demonstrate extremely strong concert ticket and music sales. Forbes Magazine disagrees with the idea for different reasons, questioning both if it would affect the cache of being the chosen artist and wondering how advertising revenue during the show would be fairly split between the league and musicians. Forbes also questions how the NFL could enforce performance and creative decisions on acts that have paid for their time.